This invention relates to electrical contacts.
The invention is more particularly concerned with hyperboloid socket contacts.
Hyperboloid socket contacts have a number of resilient wires extending longitudinally of a tubular structure, which is twisted at opposite ends through a small angle relative to one another so that the internal diameter of the structure midway along its length is reduced, thereby forming a resilient contact region for a male pin contact inserted in the socket. Opposite ends of the wires are retained by being wrapped around the inside and outside of respective rings to which they are welded. This structure may be retained within an outer body forming a part of the contact. Contacts of this kind are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,023,789, U.S. Pat. No. 3,107,966, U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,527, U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,428, U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,962 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,813. Hyperboloid contacts are sold by Hypertac Limited of London, England, by Hypertronics Inc of Hudson, Mass., USA and by Interconnectron GmbH of Deggendorf, Germany.
Hyperboloid contacts have various advantages over other contacts in that they can have a low contact resistance, a low insertion force, a long effective life, they can carry high currents, they have an excellent wiping action and can be stable under shock and vibration. The problem with such contacts, however, is that the way in which the wires are retained at their ends makes them relatively expensive to manufacture so their use is limited to applications where high integrity is required. It has been proposed to form a similar contact by stamping from a sheet of metal such as to form parallel strips that would serve a similar function as the wires in hyperboloid contacts. Forms of stamped contact are described in DE19941515.3, EP442639, GB2065993 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,923. These stamped contacts can be produced at low cost but they may not be suitable for all applications.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative contact.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an electrical socket contact including a tubular member and a plurality of metal wires supported by the tubular member, the wires being attached at opposite ends at respective locations on the tubular member, the locations at opposite ends being spaced angularly from one another, the tubular member having a plurality of slots extending between the locations obliquely of the tubular member, and the wires towards their ends extending externally of the tubular member and between their ends extend along respective ones of the slots obliquely of the socket such that at a region between their ends the wires extend inwardly beyond the inner surface of the tubular member to provide a contact region.
The tubular member preferably has an external member towards each end spaced from the ends by respective end regions, each wire being bent at the external member to extend along the surface of the respective end region at both ends. The tubular member preferably has a locating notch at each end for each wire. The tubular member is preferably of a metal and the wires are welded at their ends to the tubular member. The wires are preferably spring metal wires of circular section. The contact may include an outer metal tubular body within which the tubular member is inserted, the outer tubular body including a contact portion to which a wire can be attached. Alternatively, the tubular member may be of metal and be formed at one end with a contact portion to which a wire can be attached. The wires preferably extend on the inside of the tubular member in a central region only of the tubular member
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an electrical socket contact having a plurality of metal wires extending along the socket in a hyperboloid arrangement and exposed for contact with a male contact member inserted within the socket, the socket including two annular regions at opposite ends of the socket, and opposite ends of the wires being attached to respective ones of the annular regions and extend along the external surface of the annular region, without extending along its internal surface.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of making an electrical socket, comprising the steps of providing a plurality of electrically-conductive spring wires, providing a tubular member having two annular regions at opposite ends and a plurality of slots extending obliquely of the tubular member between the two annular regions, positioning the wires to extend along respective ones of the slots and along the external surface of respective annular regions at opposite ends and securing the wires at opposite ends with the annular regions.
The wires are preferably assembled on the tubular member from the exterior of the tubular member and may be secured with the annular regions by welding.
According to yet another aspect of the invention there is provided an electrical socket made by a method according to the above further aspect of the invention.
An assembly including an electrical socket and its method of manufacture, according to the present invention, will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.